Crawfish Étouffée

a zoomed in image of a pot of crawfish etouffee

4.95 from 18 votes

Crawfish Étouffée is an easy-to-make, smothered crawfish dish that is over-the-top delicious. The creamy sauce, tender crawfish tails, and perfect amount of Creole seasoning make this a knockout dinner.

Prep Time5

Cook Time25

Total Time30

Servings:

Calories: 1121kcal

Author: Kari

Equipment

a 5 quart dutch oven or a large pot
measuring spoons
measuring cups
a rubber spatula or spoon for stirring

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
2 - 3 ounces smoked bacon, diced I use 3 - 4 strips depending on how thick it is.
½ cup white or yellow onion finely diced
½ cup green bell pepper finely diced
¼ cup celery finely diced
½ tablespoon garlic minced
1 tablespoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
⅛ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
½ cup tomatoes chopped, I quartered fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden.
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup heavy cream
1 pound peeled Crawfish tails

For Serving

cooked rice we like green onion rice
green onions, chopped

Instructions

Begin by heating a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. If you have not already done so, dice up your vegetables and bacon.
Add diced bacon and butter and let the butter melt as the bacon crisps up.
1 tablespoon butter, 2 - 3 ounces smoked bacon, diced
When the bacon is crispy, do your best to scrape the bits of bacon off of the bottom of the pot.
Now add the onions, celery, and green pepper to the melted butter and bacon. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes.
½ cup white or yellow onion, ½ cup green bell pepper, ¼ cup celery
Next, add minced garlic.
½ tablespoon garlic
Continue cooking until the onions are translucent and soft. The garlic should also become fragrant.
Now, add the Creole seasoning and let that cook for about a minute. It will smell so good!
1 tablespoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
Then sprinkle the flour over the vegetable and Creole seasoning mixture and stir it until it thickens almost into a paste.
⅛ cup all-purpose flour
Continue stirring while this cooks so the flour doesn't burn to the bottom of the pot - it should take about one minute.
Now gradually add the stock to this mixture. I start with about a third of the stock, then let it start to simmer a little before adding the remainder of it.
2 cups chicken broth
Bring this to a gentle boil/simmer.
Next, add tomatoes, parsley, thyme, kosher salt, and Worcestershire sauce.
½ cup tomatoes, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon dried thyme, ½ teaspoon dried parsley, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Return to a simmer, then stir in cream.
¼ cup heavy cream
Simmer uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Finally, add the crawfish tails. Mix to combine then return the étouffée to a simmer (about 2 - 3 minutes) and remove from heat. The crawfish tails are already cooked, so they will get rubbery if cooked too long.
1 pound peeled Crawfish tails
Serve immediately with green onion rice (or plain white rice) and a sprinkle of green onions on top.
cooked rice, green onions, chopped

Notes

How to Store Leftover Crawfish Étouffée

Crawfish Étouffée leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 days. It can be reheated over low heat, but again, do not overcook it as the crawfish will get tough.

If you are not going to eat all of the étouffée within 2 - 3 days, you can freeze it for several months. Let it defrost in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stove over low heat.

You can also make étouffée sauce and keep it in the freezer for easy weeknight meals - when you are craving étouffée, all you need to do is defrost and heat up the sauce, then add crawfish or shrimp to it.

Recipe Tips

Do not overcook the crawfish - crawfish tails are already cooked, so they can get very chewy if they get cooked for too long. The crawfish tails just need a few minutes to warm up in the sauce.
You can use any kind of tomatoes that you like - cherry tomatoes, creole tomatoes, diced tomatoes in a can, or diced Roma tomatoes - this is such a versatile recipe. Because of the use of chopped tomatoes, this étouffée recipe is more of a Creole étouffée - but don't let the tomatoes stop you from trying it!
If you don't have crawfish, you can use shrimp and make Shrimp Étouffée instead. If you're using shrimp, they can be seared for a few minutes on each side BEFORE making the sauce, then remove them from the pan and set them off to the side. Follow the recipe as written, then simmer shrimp in the étouffée sauce until they are no longer pink and serve.

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